---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Our first duty, to which every other…"
description: "\"Our first duty, to which every other consideration should be sacrificed, is not to be poor.\" — George Bernard Shaw"
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/799/george-bernard-shaw-68_consideration_our-first-duty-to-which-every-other-cons_2732777.png"
---

#  Our first duty, to which every other consideration should…

![“Our first duty, to which every other consideration should be sacrificed, is not to be poor.” quote by George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/799/george-bernard-shaw-68_consideration_our-first-duty-to-which-every-other-cons_2732777.png)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/799/george-bernard-shaw-68_consideration_our-first-duty-to-which-every-other-cons_2732777.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/799/george-bernard-shaw-68_consideration_our-first-duty-to-which-every-other-cons_2732777.png)

> “Our first duty, to which every other consideration should be sacrificed, is not to be poor.”

[George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

Prioritizes eliminating poverty above all other concerns.

**In simple terms:** Eradicate poverty before other issues.

Key Takeaway

Focus on solving poverty first.

Themes

poverty social justice priorities

Mood

urgent serious

Type

philosophical motivational

When to use this quote

- policy making
- charitable work
- community planning

Key Concepts

economic inequality human welfare

Questions to Reflect On

- Can poverty be solved without addressing other issues?
- What are realistic steps to reduce poverty?

A Different Perspective

Complex societal problems may require simultaneous solutions.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Consideration](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/consideration/) [Consideration Sacrificed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/consideration-sacrificed-2966982/) [Duty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/duty/) [Duty Consideration](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/duty-consideration-2966981/) [Firsts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/firsts/) [Poor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poor/) [Responsibility](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/responsibility/) [Sacrificed Poor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sacrificed-poor-2966983/) [Wealth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wealth/)

## Related quotes

> [The greatest evils and the worst of crimes is poverty; our first duty, a duty to which every other consideration should be sacrificed, is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/the-greatest-evils-and-the-worst-of-crimes-is-poverty-our-first-duty/)

[George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/)

> [The schoolmaster is the person who takes the children off the parents' hands for a consideration. That is to say, he establishes a child…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/the-schoolmaster-is-the-person-who-takes-the-children-off-the-parents/)

[George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/)

> [That which is common to the greatest number has the least care bestowed upon it. Every one thinks chiefly of his own, hardly at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/that-which-is-common-to-the-greatest-number-has-the-least-care/)

[Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/)

> [Consideration is the soil in which wisdom may be expected to grow, and strength be given to every up-springing plant of duty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/consideration-is-the-soil-in-which-wisdom-may-be-expected-to-grow-and/)

[Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/)

> [Plato long ago pointed out the importance of being governed by men with sufficient sense of responsibility and comprehension of public duties to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/plato-long-ago-pointed-out-the-importance-of-being-governed-by-men/)

[George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/)

> [...it is proper that the duty of helping the poor and unfortunate should especially stir Catholics, since they are members of the Mystical Body…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-john-xxii/it-is-proper-that-the-duty-of-helping-the-poor-and-unfortunate-should/)

[Pope John XXII](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-john-xxii/)

> [Thus is man made equal to every event. He can face danger for the right. A poor, tender, painful body, he can run into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/thus-is-man-made-equal-to-every-event-he-can-face-danger-for-the/)

[Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/)

> [There are two famous labyrinths where our reason very often goes astray. One concerns the great question of the free and the necessary, above…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gottfried-leibniz/there-are-two-famous-labyrinths-where-our-reason-very-often-goes/)

[Gottfried Leibniz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gottfried-leibniz/)

> [As far as I'm concerned, the sexiness, the sex symbol, it's not a consideration.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-craig/as-far-as-i-m-concerned-the-sexiness-the-sex-symbol-it-s-not-a/)

[Daniel Craig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-craig/)

> [In reality no food is valued solely for its nutritive power and no garment or house solely for the protection it affords against cold…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludwig-von-mises/in-reality-no-food-is-valued-solely-for-its-nutritive-power-and-no/)

[Ludwig von Mises](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ludwig-von-mises/)

> [Actually, when I look at my old notebooks, I think I have been a bit self-indulgent and have given myself too much time to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-goldberg/actually-when-i-look-at-my-old-notebooks-i-think-i-have-been-a-bit/)

[Natalie Goldberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-goldberg/)

> [Virtually every major technological advance in the history of the human species- back to the invention of stone tools and the domestication of fire…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-dennett/virtually-every-major-technological-advance-in-the-history-of-the/)

[Daniel Dennett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-dennett/)

> [You think if you work hard enough, you can fix the precious things you've broken - rather than being careful with them in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guillermo-del-toro/you-think-if-you-work-hard-enough-you-can-fix-the-precious-things-you/)

[Guillermo del Toro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guillermo-del-toro/)

> [My decision to destroy the authority of the blacks in Saint Domingue (Haiti) is not so much based on considerations of commerce and money,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/napoleon-bonaparte/my-decision-to-destroy-the-authority-of-the-blacks-in-saint-domingue/)

[Napoleon Bonaparte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/napoleon-bonaparte/)

> [Anyone who commits an act of violence to themselves or others is worth consideration in the sense that there must be something that brought…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-hall/anyone-who-commits-an-act-of-violence-to-themselves-or-others-is/)

[Rebecca Hall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-hall/)

## More by George Bernard Shaw

> [I love little children too but I don't cut off their heads and stick them in vases.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/i-love-little-children-too-but-i-don-t-cut-off-their-heads-and-stick/)

[George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/)

> [Blasphemy and sedition (meaning the truth about Church and State).](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/blasphemy-and-sedition-meaning-the-truth-about-church-and-state/)

[George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/)

> [In the arts of life, man invents nothing; but in the arts of death he outdoes Nature herself, and produces by chemistry and machinery…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/in-the-arts-of-life-man-invents-nothing-but-in-the-arts-of-death-he/)

[George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/)

> [“My religious convictions and scientific views cannot at present be more specifically defined than as those of a believer in creative evolution. I desire…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/my-religious-convictions-and-scientific-views-cannot-at-present-be/)

[George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/)

> [What a man believes may be ascertained, not from his creed, but from the assumptions on which he habitually acts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/what-a-man-believes-may-be-ascertained-not-from-his-creed-but-from/)

[George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/)

> [You are my inspiration and my folly. You are my light across the sea, my million nameless joys, and my day's wage. You are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/you-are-my-inspiration-and-my-folly-you-are-my-light-across-the-sea/)

[George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/)

> [Men have to do some awfully mean things to keep up their respectability.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/men-have-to-do-some-awfully-mean-things-to-keep-up-their/)

[George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/)

> [The schoolmaster is the person who takes the children off the parents' hands for a consideration. That is to say, he establishes a child…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/the-schoolmaster-is-the-person-who-takes-the-children-off-the-parents/)

[George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/)

> [As long as I have a want, I have a reason for living. Satisfaction is death.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/as-long-as-i-have-a-want-i-have-a-reason-for-living-satisfaction-is/)

[George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/)

> [The camera can represent flesh so superbly that, if I dared, I would never photograph a figure without asking that figure to take its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/the-camera-can-represent-flesh-so-superbly-that-if-i-dared-i-would/)

[George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/)

> [A man who is not a communist at the age of twenty is a fool. Any man who is still communist at the age…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/a-man-who-is-not-a-communist-at-the-age-of-twenty-is-a-fool-any-man/)

[George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/)

> [But to admire a strong person and to live under that strong person’s thumb are two different things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/but-to-admire-a-strong-person-and-to-live-under-that-strong-person-s/)

[George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/)

> [Socialism is the same as Communism, only better English.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/socialism-is-the-same-as-communism-only-better-english/)

[George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/)

> [The person who is ignorant enough to believe that his nourishment depends on meat is in a horrible dilemma.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/the-person-who-is-ignorant-enough-to-believe-that-his-nourishment/)

[George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/)

> [In the arts of peace Man is a bungler.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/in-the-arts-of-peace-man-is-a-bungler/)

[George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/)

[Explore all 1,640 George Bernard Shaw quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/)

## More Consideration quotes

> [Consideration is the soil in which wisdom may be expected to grow, and strength be given to every up-springing plant of duty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/consideration-is-the-soil-in-which-wisdom-may-be-expected-to-grow-and/)

[Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/)

> [As far as I'm concerned, the sexiness, the sex symbol, it's not a consideration.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-craig/as-far-as-i-m-concerned-the-sexiness-the-sex-symbol-it-s-not-a/)

[Daniel Craig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-craig/)

> [Virtually every major technological advance in the history of the human species- back to the invention of stone tools and the domestication of fire…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-dennett/virtually-every-major-technological-advance-in-the-history-of-the/)

[Daniel Dennett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-dennett/)

> [There are two famous labyrinths where our reason very often goes astray. One concerns the great question of the free and the necessary, above…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gottfried-leibniz/there-are-two-famous-labyrinths-where-our-reason-very-often-goes/)

[Gottfried Leibniz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gottfried-leibniz/)

> [The schoolmaster is the person who takes the children off the parents' hands for a consideration. That is to say, he establishes a child…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/the-schoolmaster-is-the-person-who-takes-the-children-off-the-parents/)

[George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/)

> [My decision to destroy the authority of the blacks in Saint Domingue (Haiti) is not so much based on considerations of commerce and money,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/napoleon-bonaparte/my-decision-to-destroy-the-authority-of-the-blacks-in-saint-domingue/)

[Napoleon Bonaparte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/napoleon-bonaparte/)

> [You think if you work hard enough, you can fix the precious things you've broken - rather than being careful with them in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guillermo-del-toro/you-think-if-you-work-hard-enough-you-can-fix-the-precious-things-you/)

[Guillermo del Toro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guillermo-del-toro/)

> [Anyone who commits an act of violence to themselves or others is worth consideration in the sense that there must be something that brought…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-hall/anyone-who-commits-an-act-of-violence-to-themselves-or-others-is/)

[Rebecca Hall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-hall/)

> [Actually, when I look at my old notebooks, I think I have been a bit self-indulgent and have given myself too much time to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-goldberg/actually-when-i-look-at-my-old-notebooks-i-think-i-have-been-a-bit/)

[Natalie Goldberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-goldberg/)

> [In reality no food is valued solely for its nutritive power and no garment or house solely for the protection it affords against cold…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludwig-von-mises/in-reality-no-food-is-valued-solely-for-its-nutritive-power-and-no/)

[Ludwig von Mises](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ludwig-von-mises/)

> [The first major issue you need to consider when focusing on today's workers: You have to know what motivates them. If you think it's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/linda-rottenberg/the-first-major-issue-you-need-to-consider-when-focusing-on-today-s/)

[Linda Rottenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/linda-rottenberg/)

> [After much consideration, I am moving onward with a combination of disappointment at leaving behind a character I have loved playing for seven years…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-edelstein/after-much-consideration-i-am-moving-onward-with-a-combination-of/)

[Lisa Edelstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-edelstein/)

> [That which is common to the greatest number has the least care bestowed upon it. Every one thinks chiefly of his own, hardly at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/that-which-is-common-to-the-greatest-number-has-the-least-care/)

[Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/)

> [The idea of freedom can never be disassociated from real Prussia. The real Prussian spirit means a synthesis between restraint and freedom, between voluntary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henning-von-tresckow/the-idea-of-freedom-can-never-be-disassociated-from-real-prussia-the/)

[Henning von Tresckow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henning-von-tresckow/)

> [I do think we should be provided with a new body about the age of thirty or so when we have learnt to attend…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/freya-stark/i-do-think-we-should-be-provided-with-a-new-body-about-the-age-of/)

[Freya Stark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/freya-stark/)

[Browse all 1,171 Consideration quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/consideration/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "Our first duty, to which every other consideration should be sacrificed, is not to be poor.",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "George Bernard Shaw"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/our-first-duty-to-which-every-other-consideration-should-be/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Consideration"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/our-first-duty-to-which-every-other-consideration-should-be/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/799/george-bernard-shaw-68_consideration_our-first-duty-to-which-every-other-cons_2732777.png",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/799/george-bernard-shaw-68_consideration_our-first-duty-to-which-every-other-cons_2732777.png",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/799/george-bernard-shaw-68_consideration_our-first-duty-to-which-every-other-cons_2732777.png",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“Our first duty, to which every other consideration should be sacrificed, is not to be poor.” — George Bernard Shaw",
                "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                "creator": {
                    "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                }
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "BreadcrumbList",
            "itemListElement": [
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 1,
                    "name": "Home",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 2,
                    "name": "Quotes",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 3,
                    "name": "George Bernard Shaw",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "Our first duty, to which every...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/our-first-duty-to-which-every-other-consideration-should-be/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/our-first-duty-to-which-every-other-consideration-should-be/#breadcrumb"
        },
        {
            "@type": "WebSite",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "publisher": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "Organization",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "logo": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png",
                "width": 512,
                "height": 512
            }
        }
    ]
}
```